The new clingstone peach cultivar was created at Davis, Calif., U.S.A. during a breeding program of the University of California for the development of improved processing peaches. An objective of the program was to develop a superior replacement cultivar for the late-season xe2x80x98Halfordxe2x80x99 cultivar (non-patented in the United States) that was introduced in 1921. This popular cultivar is heavily planted and is recognized to produce late-maturing fruit. The fruit flesh has a desirable yellow-gold color but often bears pink to red coloration near the pit cavity that is attributable to the formation of anthocyanins. This red coloration often oxidizes to brown when canned and thereby provides a less than optimum fruit color as well as an undesirable brown staining of the canned syrup. Additionally, the red-stained fruit stone or endocarp of the xe2x80x98Halfordxe2x80x99 cultivar tends to be prone to breakage during processing and sometimes imparts unwanted pit fragments to the fruit flesh that are difficult to remove.
During the course of the breeding program that yielded the new cultivar of the present invention, many seedlings were developed and evaluated. The seed that produced the new cultivar of the present invention was produced by the open-pollination of University of California breeding line xe2x80x98R, 13-33xe2x80x99 (non-patented in the United States). A total of twenty seedlings from such open-pollination were planted in 1986. The new cultivar of the present invention was selected from among these seedlings and was initially designated xe2x80x98F10EN, 6-27xe2x80x99. The evaluation and selection of the new cultivar of the present invention has continued over a number of years.
It was found that the new clingstone peach tree cultivar of the present invention:
(a) Exhibits a spreading to upright-spreading growth habit,
(b) Forms large showy flowers,
(c) Forms attractive nearly symmetrical fruit having uniform bright yellow flesh that is free from red staining at the pit cavity,
(d) Ripens at substantially the same time as the xe2x80x98Halfordxe2x80x99 cultivar (non-patented in the United States), and
(e) Is patricularly well suited for processing.
The new cultivar has been asexually propagated at Davis, Calif., U.S.A., by grafting on peach rootstocks. Such propagation has confirmed that the characteristics of the new cultivar are stable and are reliably transmitted to subsequent generations.
The new cultivar of the present invention is considered to offer superior characteristics when compared to the popular xe2x80x98Halfordxe2x80x99 cultivar and can be readily distinguished from such previously available cultivar. Unlike the xe2x80x98Halfordxe2x80x99 cultivar, the fruit of the new cultivar is firmer and is free from red staining at the pit cavity. The fruit is of similar size and ripens at approximately the same late season as the xe2x80x98Halfordxe2x80x99 cultivar. Also, the tree vigor is similar to that of the xe2x80x98Halfordxe2x80x99 cultivar. The pit of the new cultivar tends to be smaller than that of the xe2x80x98Halfordxe2x80x99 cultivar and thereby facilitates a greater processing case yield. Also, a lower frequency of pit fragments in the processed fruit flesh has been noted during observations to date. The level of soluble solids is similar to that of the xe2x80x98Halfordxe2x80x99 cultivar. The fruit skin is less pubescent than that of the xe2x80x98Halfordxe2x80x99 cultivar and tends to display a more uniform yellow-gold coloration. The leaves of the new cultivar are medium-sized with reniform glands and are a lighter green than those of the xe2x80x98Halfordxe2x80x99 cultivar.
The new cultivar of the present invention has been tested in plantings at Davis, Calif.; Winters, Calif.; and Parlier, Calif., U.S.A.
Wood of the new cultivar has been subjected to the virus indexing program of Foundation Plant Materials Service, University of California at Davis, Calif., U.S.A. All indices have proven to be negative for viruses for foundation trees of this genotype being maintained by such Foundation Plant Materials Service.
The new cultivar of the present invention has been named xe2x80x98Lillelandxe2x80x99.